Former Penn State athletic director Tim Curley, through his attorney, is asking a judge to dismiss the perjury charge he’s facing as part of the Jerry Sandusky scandal, saying the testimony of the late Joe Paterno was the corroborating evidence that prosecutors needed, and without it, an already weak case is sunk.More...

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

Jerry Sandusky’s former daughter-in-law today railed against a court ruling allowing the accused child molester to visit with his grandchildren, saying that Sandusky had inappropriately touched her son and she suspected he was grooming the boy for sexual abuse.

Jill Thomas, who was married to Sandusky’s son Matt, said she would continue to fight against Sandusky being allowed to visit with his grandchildren.

Earlier today, a judge in Centre County, Pa., granted Sandusky’s request for relaxed bail terms that allow him to visit with all of his grandchildren except for Thomas’s children, due to her objections.

“I do not believe it is safe for my children, or any children, to be around Jerry Sandusky,” Thomas said. ::snipping2::Jill Thomas said that she had fought today’s ruling. Thomas noted that she had tried to testify at the hearing last week but that her testimony was submitted instead as a written summary by the state attorney general to Judge John Cleland.

In an angry statement released today, Thomas said the summary did not accurately or completely reflect the danger Sandusky posed to children.

“Although I have kept silent up until now to protect my children and my family’s privacy, I can no longer keep silent about Jerry Sandusky’s request to be permitted to see my children,” Thomas said. “Shortly after news of the child sexual abuse criminal charges against Jerry Sandusky became public, my children reported to me that Jerry Sandusky, their grandfather, had inappropriately touched my son. I was devastated by this news.”

Thomas said she reported her son’s claim to authorities, who decided there was not enough evidence to charge Sandusky with a crime. But a psychologist who worked with her son after the revelation said Sandusky may have been grooming the boy for sexual abuse, Thomas said. ::snipping2::Video at Link

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

A Pennsylvania judge eased bail restrictions Monday former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, allowing him visits with most of his grandchildren and close friends as he awaits trial on child sex abuse charges.The judge also rejected a separate prosecution request that a jury in Sandusky's upcoming trial be drawn from outside the State College area.Although defense attorney Joe Amendola said his client is both "relieved and pleased'' by Senior Judge John Cleland's decisions, legal analysts said the jury ruling is most important to Sandusky's May 14 trial.By ensuring that jurors are drawn from the Penn State area, Widener University law professor Wesley Oliver said, Amendola is likely hoping that the jury pool will include people who view Sandusky, charged with 52 counts of abuse involving 10 children, as one of the architect's of Penn State's football success.

"Sandusky just needs to find one person who will put more weight on his football reputation," Oliver said. "It is a potentially high-risk, high-reward game."

"I'm sure they are looking for anyone who knows Sandusky as one of the best defensive coordinators in the nation," said attorney Jeffrey Lindy, who has dealt with child sex abuse cases as a prosecutor and defense lawyer.

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

Officials at State College Area School District are working to reassure parents after a judge loosened Jerry Sandusky’s home confinement rules. ::snipping2::During a pretrial hearing last week, prosecutors said Sandusky’s back porch was only 50 yards away from the playground at Lemont Elementary School and that several neighbors videotaped Sandusky on his back porch when students were outside for recess.

Deputy District Attorney Marc Costanzo said that prosecutors received calls of concern from parents and neighbors who saw Sandusky on his back deck during home confinement. ::snipping2::SCASD Public Information Specialist Julie Miller told 6News that the principal has not received notification of any classroom or recess disruptions during school hours because of Sandusky.Certainly, we have heard reports that Mr. Sandusky has been on his deck, but that has been part of his bail agreement. That's not restricted. As a district, we're not in a position to change anything with that."

Miller said the school has enhanced security by keeping all exterior doors locked, restricting traffic onto the property, as well as increasing recess supervision ever since the 62-year-old was arrested on dozens of charges connected to child sex abuse allegations last November.

Miller told 6News that officials have sent several emails to Lemont Elementary parents within the last two weeks and do not plan on making any changes to outdoor recess plans. ::snipping2::Video at Link

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

The mother of three of Jerry Sandusky's grandchildren is vowing to fight to bar the former Penn State assistant football coach from having access to her children while he awaits trial on child sex abuse charges.

In a statement sent to reporters hours after a judge approved visits between Sandusky and his 11 other grandchildren on Monday, former daughter-in-law Jill Thomas said psychologists who had treated her 5-year-old son "could not rule out that Jerry Sandusky was grooming him for sexual abuse."

Thomas, 29, is currently involved in a custody dispute with her former husband, Sandusky's son Matt.

Judge John M. Cleland, who issued the pretrial order involving the other children, opted to leave any decisions involving Thomas' youngsters to the judge presiding over her custody case.More...

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

Reading this tread has become very difficult. I'm continually amazed at how this monster is being treated by the court. If I were connected to that school, I'd set up cameras to monitor that backyard and document just how much time that pervert spends watching the children.

Reading this tread has become very difficult. I'm continually amazed at how this monster is being treated by the court. If I were connected to that school, I'd set up cameras to monitor that backyard and document just how much time that pervert spends watching the children.

BBMI know what you mean. From the very start I wondered if it was going to be especially difficult for the victims, with Jerry Sandusky shown favoritism. When the first judge in the case (who had connections with The Second Mile) allowed Sandusky a $200,000 UNSECURED bond with no travel restrictions with the first charges and victims I was . There were additional charges for additional victims and the bond went up to $250,000.00 and he was allowed to stay in his home with an ankle monitor. At this time, there are 10 victims and 52 charges against Jerry Sandusky. And now he can leave the house, his grandchildren can visit, he can have visitors but what really, really got my goat was the denial for the Prosecution to take the trial to another county. The laws for child abuse and child rape victims is very poor in PA, coupled with some that have football blinders on, I've become more and more concerned the perv is gonna walk.

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

COLLEGE PARK -- The reporter who broke the Penn State child molestation scandal said Monday that her enterprising reporting was "a testament to (the importance) of local journalism."

Sara Ganim, a crime reporter at The Patriot-News in Harrisburg, Pa., scooped much-larger national publications when she revealed in March that a grand jury was investigating whether former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky had sexually abused young boys.

"There is still very much a place for local journalism. You can have a lot of experience and ... parachute down into a community and have an instinct (for a story), but you will never match up to the people who live there," Ganim, 24, told an audience of 80 people at the University of Maryland's Philip Merrill College of Journalism. ::snipping2::

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

Lawyers for both Tim Curley and Gary Schultz have asked a judge this week to toss out the criminal charges against their clients, arguing there's insufficient evidence to proceed.

But, in most cases like this, the court will allow the case to move ahead to trial, anyway, said Christopher Leibig, a Washington, D.C.-area criminal-defense attorney.

Typically, he said on Wednesday, a judge will permit government prosecutors to illustrate their full case at trial instead of via pre-trial proceedings.

"Who knows what evidence will come out?" said Leibig, who handles cases similar to Curley's and Schultz's. He said "it's possible that (prosecutors) have witnesses that weren't presented to the grand jury and have not been made public.

"There's no obligation that they present all of their witnesses to the grand jury or make all of their witnesses public," said Leibig, who has followed the Curley and Schultz cases.

In fact, he went on, prosecutors at times will "deliberately not put everything they have" into initial probable-cause reports. That can be a strategic move, Leibig said. ::snipping2::Still, said Leibig, the DC-based attorney, judges are often inclined to send such matters to trial and see how they play out there. He said defense attorneys can raise the same dismissal motions as more material -- or an absence of it -- comes to light at trial.

"I would predict that even if the motions (to dismiss) are strong, they would probably be denied at this (pre-trial) stage," Leibig said.

If Schultz is convicted on the perjury charge, the State Employees' Retirement System could seek the forfeiture of his state pension of $27,558 a month, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. ::snipping2::

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

::snipping2::Officials said the case has made people more alert to potential abuse, helped victims feel less alone and spurred organizations to take steps to prevent it. And the sports-world scandal has helped make men in particular more comfortable talking about and reporting abuse.

"I think some people may have briefly thought about male victims in the context of clergy abuse," said David Lisak, a founding board member of 1in6, which helps men who have been sexually abused. In the Catholic clergy abuse scandal, too, a flurry of new molestation reports surfaced after initial victims came forward. "A lot of men had not noticed or avoided the clergy coverage. But it's hard for them to avoid this." ::snipping2::

Lawmakers at workVirginia lawmakers are working to ensure that the alleged tragedy at Penn State couldn't occur in the commonwealth.The House of Delegates preliminarily approved a measure Monday that requires coaches and athletic directors at private universities to report knowledge of abuse or neglect of a child to local officials. That puts football coaches on the same level as police officers and teachers.Lawmakers also moved to add law enforcement to the list of agencies such crimes can be reported to, and moved the reporting time to within 24 hours, up from 72 hours.The penalty for a second offense would increase to $1,000 and could be a Class 1 misdemeanor if the individual knew the child was raped.FBI: Rape definitionnow includes male victimsThe FBI has expanded its definition of rape. Revisions to the Uniform Crime Report formalized last month mean rapes of men and boys will now be counted in the bureau's statistics. The expanded rape definition also includes incidents when a victim can't give consent because of a physical or mental incapacity, including those due to drugs, alcohol and age. -- Steve Contorno

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

::snipping2::But Tom Ritter, who resides in Orwigsburg, Pa, says this time the homosexual lobby has smeared the wrong guy, and he plans to set the record straight by having every one of the Penn State trustees apologize, then resign.

Ritter intends to do this by leaning on the Pennsylvania legislature, which every year gives a generous amount to Penn State.

So he will send out periodic and reminding e-mails to the hundreds of thousands of Joe Paterno fans across Pennsylvania, asking them not to vote for any member of the legislature who will not introduce or co-sponsor legislation denying all money to Penn State until the trustees have apologized and resigned.

This includes Republican Governor and baby-kisser Tom Corbett, who is also a Penn State trustee, and wants to be re-elected. ::snipping2::

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan

I can NOT believe that people still defend this creep. If they watched a video of one of his attacks they'd excuse it as the kids coming on to him. I really think they would. Is football REALLY that important?

A House panel unanimously approved a measure that would punish universities, colleges and schools for failing to report child molestation with a $1 million fine per incident and heightened penalties for child molesters.Child sexual abuse scandals at Penn State University, Syracuse University and the Citadel prompted Rep. Chris Dorworth to sponsor the measure at the request of influential lobbyist Ron Book, whose daughter Lauren is a child abuse survivor.

The scandals at the universities outside Florida exposed loopholes in state law, Book said, about required reporting of suspected sexual abuse on minors.

Current law only requires people to report suspected child sexual abuse if the perpetrator is believed to be a caretaker of the child. The bill (HB 1355) would change that, and also require that the Department of Children and Families child abuse hotline handle reports of any kind. Currently hotline operators accept all calls but refer some callers to law enforcement agencies.

"What you find is that universities, especially ones that have popular athletic programs, people try to protect those institutions. And when they do that, they make a decision that the institution is more important than the child," Dorworth, R-Lake Mary. More...

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" Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts." - Daniel Moynihan